Such a small thing
by Haunted Harlequin
Summary: DISCONTINUED! Arthur is stung by a very special bee, which leads to some very strange circumstances for Merlin and Gwen.  Disclaimer: I don't own merlin, the BBC does, but I promise to be careful!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Merlin ran down the stone corridor, heart racing, desperately trying to stay ahead of the man chasing him. It wasn't much of a competition, and if Merlin didn't do something soon he would have no choice but to use his secret weapon, but the consequences of that were also unthinkable.

Suddenly, a small, nondescript door opened to reveal Gwen, harassed and desperate but completely, totally alive. In that moment Merlin could have kissed her, he was so relieved to see her, anyone, who wasn't trying to kill him. "Quick! Get in here!" she shouted to Merlin, who, in his joy, had come to a complete standstill in the middle of the hallway.

He dived past her into the small room beyond and almost immediately tripped and fell on his face. As she closed the door they were plunged into darkness, the only light came from a small window set high above them and Merlin could hear the blood pumping impossibly loud in his ears as all his senses focused on the heavy footsteps that were fading into the distance.

They stayed like that, Gwen listening intently at the door and Merlin sprawled awkwardly on the floor for a full minute after the sound of his pursuer had faded. "Ow!" exclaimed Merlin, as he experimentally stretched his legs and encountered a large stack of wash buckets which crashed noisily to the floor. "Do you think they heard that?" he whispered to Gwen, knowing the answer before she even opened her mouth. "Right, sorry." He interrupted, "let's put as much distance between us and this," he paused and looked around, "linen cupboard. Then you can shout at me as much as want, ok?" Gwen nodded tersely, reaching out her hand grudgingly to allow him to pull himself up.

As he watched her hurry down the exposed corridor in front of him, Merlin sighed, he longed for the sheer dullness of everyday life in Camelot. For the last 5 days he had hardly slept, barely eaten anything and was constantly worrying about where Arthur was. After all, hiding from a Prince in his own city was not easy, not easy at all.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

1 week earlier-

_Merlin_

"Come on Merlin!" shouted an impatient Arthur, "I would like to get back to the castle before I'm rendered completely incompetent by old age!"

Merlin sighed, just another day in the life of the most under-appreciated servant in all of Camelot, or at least that's what it felt like anyway. He knew Arthur cared about him really, even if it was buried very deep down in the furthest recesses of his mind. That was just the stubborn Prince's nature; he cared for people, regardless of their 'status', on a level his brash father would never, ever understand.

"Coming my Lord", he yelled back, fighting the urge to point out that he would be making much faster progress were he not weighed down by all the extra weapons the Prince could ever wish for, and a few that Merlin was sure he would never wish for.

Quickly Merlin knelt down to pick up the who-knows-what that he had dropped, but in the process managed to lose his grip on the rest of the things and send them all clattering to the ground. Wearily, he started to re-gather them, wincing as the already tired muscles in his back protested even further.

_Arthur_

It was starting to become embarrassing. How could the finest (and only) Prince of Camelot get landed with the clumsiest and most incompetent servant in history? It was a continual source of amazement for the Prince the number of times Merlin managed to worm his way into (and out of) trouble. Arthur winced as he heard the spare throwing knives and extra javelin he had had Merlin bring clatter to the ground for the fourth time. Truly unbelievable. Leaning his back against a nearby tree, Arthur waited for Merlin to catch up.

Just as he closed his eyes, reveling in the rare moment of peace and quiet, the distinctive chink of a knife being withdrawn from a sheath came from somewhere away to the Prince's left. Acting on pure instinct Arthur dived forwards, narrowly avoiding the arrow now lodged in the tree above him. Reaching for his sword, Arthur turned to face his attackers.

_Merlin_

Merlin whistled tunelessly as he fetched the equipment together, it really was a lovely day for the time of year, he reflected. His stomach growled, and he wondered what Gaius had prepared for lunch, hopefully not more of that ghastly stew they had had last night - it was only his regard for Gaius' feelings that had stopped him spitting it right back into the bowl it was so disgusting! As he prepared to set off again, a loud clang reached his ears, metal on metal - sword on sword. Dropping his load Merlin started to run towards the sound.

When he reached the top of the small hillock separating him and Arthur, Merlin stumbled to a halt. Before him, he could see Arthur, bleeding profusely and battling furiously with five bandits. As he stood in shock and stared at the scene before him, unsure of what he could do to help his Lord without revealing his magic, Merlin failed to notice a sixth attacker making his way towards him.

Just before he lost consciousness, Merlin saw Arthur make a spectacular, desperate attempt to defeat the men before he too was beaten.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Merlin_

Merlin came to slowly, wincing at the pain radiating from somewhere at the back of his head. As his senses returned, he realised that, aside from the rope securing his hands to the tree behind him, he was completely naked. Glancing over to his left he saw that Arthur, also tied to a tree, was in a similar state of undress. Cheeks colouring Merlin quickly looked away, scanning the area for any sign of their attackers, or, in fact, any sign of their clothes.

After seeing no 'normal' way of freeing them, Merlin was just cycling through his internal list of spells, trying to find anything remotely helpful when Arthur groaned loudly and opened his eyes. "Wha-" he moaned, barely conscious.

"Arthur", Merlin hissed, "don't say anything, they might still be here, and if they find out who you are-" Merlin left the sentence hanging.

After a few groans, and a lot of eye-blinking, the Prince appeared to have returned to the world. Merlin's doubt was immediately assuaged when Arthur lifted his head, looked him said in the eye and said, with a completely straight face "Merlin. What have you done with my clothes?"

"Me! How could I have done this?"

"Well over the pas year I've just come to assume things are your fault. They usually are."

"That's not fair!"

"Isn't it? Name one thing that's gone wrong this week that hasn't been your fault."

"Knight's training cancellation on Tuesday."

"That was a freak storm!"

"Still counts"

"Does not"

"Does too"

"Shut up Merlin."

Merlin didn't bother replying, arguing with Arthur was pointless, he was so stubborn, even, no, especially when he was wrong. They stayed that way for several minutes, each too aggravated by the other to even attempt to try to figure out a way to free themselves. After what felt like hours, Merlin caved. "Well I think it's safe to say they're not coming back. Any ideas on how we can get out of this mess?"

Arthur was just opening his mouth to reply when the sound of voices reached their ears. It was Sir Leon, Arthur's second in command and...Gwen?

**I'm so sorry for the late update, I had a massive load of coursework due in before the end of term but now that's out the way updates should be much quicker and (hopefully) longer. R&R pleassee! =]**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry sorry sorry sorry ! ! ! Here's chapter 4 of Such a Small Thing, hope you enjoy =] ( more A/N at the end ) Oh, and just to clarify, this is set a few after the 'true love' kiss thing between Artur and Gwen so they know they like each other, but aren't completely comfortable with it, you know? And Morgana isn't evil ... yet (haven't decided if I'll included that in the plot ... let me know what you think ok ? promise? good...) =]**

_Dear Diary,_

_Sir Leon is so sweet, he's really lovely, not at all what I expected from Arthur's second in command! Although, I didn't judge Arthur himself very well either :) One of the few times I've ever been glad to be proved wrong! It's Merlin's influence, I'm sure. Before he came Arthur was such a brute, always getting his own way - he just couldn't take no for an answer, if you know what I mean! Once, about six months before Merlin arrived he and the other knights-in-training had all gone to the tavern to celebrate winning some tournament or other and I had the misfortune to encounter them on their way back to the castle. Well, suffice it to say that Arthur was an even bigger idiot when he was ... well ... certainly __not__ sober. That's all changed now though 3 _

_Anyway, that's beside the point. As I was saying, appearance (and status) can be deceptive. On Wednesday I was talking to Sir Leon as I waited for the kitchens to finish preparing my Lady's meal and it turns out that we have quite a lot in common. In fact, my mother used to be his nursemaid! I don't remember her that well (I was so young when she died) but he is a little older than I am and he said that she was the best nanny, and the kindest person, he ever knew. My father used to say that I had her eyes, but it was nice to hear that from someone else, someone who's not biased in any way._

_So, we were talking about Mother, and Sir Leon mentioned that he was especially thinking about her recently as it's the anniversary of her death today (Sunday). _

_That threw me. My father never spoke of her, and of course I was to young to remember so that little detail, the day she died, followed him to his grave, apparently never to be discovered. Until now that is._

_When Sir Leon realised that I had no idea, he asked me if I knew where the grave was._

_I didn't even know there was a grave !_

_So that's what lead to me and Sir Leon being on that path through the woods today. It was peaceful i the forest and the trip, whilst an emotional lightning storm, was fairly uneventful._

_That was, until we were making our way back through the trees, walking in comfortable silence (we both had a lot to think about), when we came across..._

"Arthur! Merlin!" came the astonished cry, "what happened ? ! " Sir Leon knew it was against protocol to address the Crown Prince of Camelot in such a way, but he honestly couldn't help himself. Embarrassed, he turned away, encouraging the stunned young woman beside him to do the same.

"Umm, yeah. There's a very rational explanation for all of this Sir Leon, but first could you possibly see your way to untying us?" called Arthur, sounding more uncertain and polite than any of them had herd him before.

It was this that tipped Gwen over the edge and she burst into a fit of giggles. Barely able to contain her hysterics she clutched at the nearest tree for support, which just happened to be the one Merlin was tethered to.

"Oh thanks Gwen!" Merlin snapped sarcastically "you're such a great help!" Merlin sounded ... almost cross with Gwen, but Sir Leon was almost certain this was just an easy outlet for the servant's embarrassment and frustration with the situation.

"All right Merlin, calm down, I'll be there in a second" shouted the blushing knight who was struggling to maintain a professional attitude as he sliced awkwardly through Arthur's restraints with his sword.

"Gwen? Gwen? Guinevere I think it would be best if you just ... look at me Gwen, look at me ... go and sit down on the ground over there please and try to calm down ... do you think you can do that? Okay, well done" Arthur pleaded with the young woman who he had so recently realised his feelings towards. All the while fighting to hold on to any scrap of the dignity he had possessed his entire life, even when he was beaten in thirty seconds by a massive brute from the Western Isles he had not felt this humiliated.

In a few minutes (minutes that felt like hours to Merlin and Arthur) Sir Leon had freed them and Gwen exhausted her laughing fit due to lack of oxygen.

"Okay, let's get back to the castle as quick as possible" said Arthur from his place from behind a tree, doing what he could to preserve the little modesty he had left. "If you and Gwen could just pass us our clothes then we ... what?" asked Arthur, puzzled by the quick glance that Leon and Merlin had exchanged.

"Arthur, my Lord, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but -" began Sir Leon, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Those bandits took our clothes Arthur." Merlin interrupted bluntly. "We have nothing to wear."

* * *

**Hey, so I know I said I'd update quickly, but real life soon got in the way when my Grandma was dragged into hospital with a severe stroke and I was way to worried to eve think about this, so far, fairly frivolous story. But she was let out yesterday and I found this chapter which I wrote a few weeks ago and just needed a bit of tweaking so here ya go! Reviews make me ( and my Grandma ) very happy. =]**

**ps. A massive thankyou to Pigeons, your review(s) are awesome ! hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think! =]**

**Lav y'all, Haunted Harlequin x**


	5. Author's Note

Ok, I'm completely swamped by stuff at the moment, and it's hard enough to update my other stories and I'm finding myself completely writer's block-ied on this one so, I'm really sorry but I'm not going to update this anytime in the near future unless any of you have some awesome ideas :S I'm _really _sorry, please forgive ?

Haunted Harlequin xxx


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